There was nothing else inside the ring — only corpses!
Ink Race corpses, packed so densely they were impossible to count.
Though they were already dead, judging by the residual aura within those corpses, many of the Ink Race were clearly at the Lord level.
Yang Kai exclaimed in shock, "Has another Ink Race army attacked recently?"
Zhong Liang shook his head. "Nothing of the sort."
"Then where did these... things come from?" If they hadn't encountered an Ink Race army, how else could these corpses be explained?
Zhong Liang shot Ding Yao a look of exasperation, while the latter said calmly, "I personally made a trip to the heartland of the Ink Race and wiped out a few of their territories."
He spoke of it as though it were nothing, but how could Yang Kai not sense the countless dangers involved? Even though Ding Yao was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, venturing so deep into the Ink Race's heartland must have been fraught with peril — the injuries covering his body were the best proof of that.
"I could have taken down another Domain Lord as well, but that fellow ran too fast." Ding Yao's words were brimming with regret. Even for someone as powerful as him, defeating a Domain Lord in direct combat was not much of a challenge, but killing one was another matter entirely.
That was precisely why Yang Kai had received such enormous war merits when he joined forces with Bai Yi to slay the Zhufeng Domain Lord.
For both humanity and the Ink Race, Eighth-Order cultivators and Domain Lord-level powerhouses were the most critical pillars on each side — the loss of even one was a wound that could hardly be borne.
Yang Kai stood frozen in shock. Piecing together what Ding Yao had said earlier, he could now grasp the sheer enormity of what this man had done. It was clear that after obtaining the Heaven and Earth Spring, Ding Yao had ventured deep into the Ink Race's heartland and wreaked havoc.
Perhaps he had harbored such intentions before, but even for an Eighth-Order cultivator, resisting the erosion of the Ink Force over extended periods would have been immensely draining. Now, with the Heaven and Earth Spring, he no longer had to worry about the dangers of the Ink Force. He could go all out, charging single-handedly into Ink Race territory and delivering them a tremendous shock.
The Heaven and Earth Spring could not enhance an Open Heaven cultivator's strength in any direct sense, but on the Ink Battlefield, the advantage it provided to a powerhouse like Ding Yao was immeasurably greater than what it could offer someone like Yang Kai.
That was precisely why, to date, the few Pillars of Heaven and Earth had all been borne by Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators.
"Take the items in this ring to the Merit Hall," Ding Yao said casually. "You should be able to exchange them for quite a lot of war merits."
Yang Kai turned to look at Zhong Liang. "Is that… appropriate?"
After all, these were not enemies he had slain himself — they were gifts from Ding Yao. If he accepted them as-is, it would be tantamount to taking war merits that Ding Yao had handed him, and Yang Kai felt somewhat uneasy about that.
Zhong Liang chuckled at his words. "There's nothing inappropriate about it. If he's giving them to you, just take them. Your Uncle-Master Ding doesn't like owing favors to anyone."
"But… this is still too much." Yang Kai felt the ring in his hand weigh heavy. He hadn't bothered to count exactly how many corpses there were, but there had to be at least tens of thousands. Most were low-rank and high-rank Ink Clansmen, though there were no small number of Lords among them as well. The war merits he could exchange them for would absolutely be a considerable sum.
Ding Yao gave a light cough and said, "If you're feeling uneasy about it, I do have a favor to ask of you."
Yang Kai nodded. "Please speak, my lord."
Ding Yao said, "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to borrow some humans from your Small Universe."
Once a cultivator's strength rose to the High-Rank Open Heaven and their internal Small Universe transitioned from ethereal to solid, they gained the right to nurture living beings within their own body. In doing so, the reproduction and flourishing of those beings would continuously bolster the foundation of the Small Universe. Over years and decades, this could shorten a cultivator's required cultivation time and help them grow more quickly.
Ding Yao had long since met the qualifications for this, but the Ink Battlefield was a place of extreme danger. Every time the Ink Clans' armies attacked, he had to go to the front lines and fight, clashing with powerful enemies. His Small Universe was inevitably thrown into turbulence, and if living beings were truly nurtured within it, they wouldn't be able to survive for long — they would perish sooner or later.
Things were different now. With the Heaven and Earth Spring, his Small Universe was flawless and smooth, steady as a rock. No matter how powerful an enemy he faced, his Small Universe would no longer suffer any tremors.
He was still quite far from the Ninth-Rank realm, so he naturally wanted to raise some living beings within his body to shorten the time needed for his advancement.
And across the entirety of Biluo Pass, the only person who was nurturing living beings within his body was Yang Kai. The one person who could help him with this matter was, naturally, Yang Kai.
Upon hearing this, Yang Kai immediately grasped Ding Yao's intentions. "My lord, you wish to cultivate your own Small Universe?"
"Indeed!" Ding Yao nodded.
Yang Kai understood immediately. "My lord, with the Earth and Heaven Springs sealing and stabilizing your Small World, you can certainly cultivate it properly. However, compared to humans, I might be able to offer you a better option."
"A better option?" Ding Yao's eyebrows rose in surprise, and even Zhong Liang looked at him with unexpected interest.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment, then reached out and grabbed at the void. The gateway to his Small World briefly opened, and in the next instant, a peculiar being stood before them, no taller than his knee and entirely stone-like in appearance.
The creature seemed rather dazed upon appearing, clearly unaware of why it had suddenly been brought to this place. However, its spiritual intelligence appeared quite low, giving it a somewhat sluggish look. It completely ignored the several people around it and began wandering about aimlessly.